Hasbunallah wa Ni’mal Wakeel: The Pulse of Gaza

Thousands of years ago, when the Prophet Ibraheem AS was cast into the fire by the tyrant Namrud for his rejection of idolatry, he repeated the phrase. So did the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad (SAW) and his beloved companions ages later, when they were told: “A great army have gathered against you, so fear them”.

The same faith-inspiring words have echoed down the ages, and most recently made a compelling showing in Gaza during the 50 day Zionist assault on the territory. Whilst the ground and infrastructure of Gaza shook to the vibrations of 20 000 tons of Israeli explosives – the equivalent of some 6 atom bombs – the hearts and tongues of the believers residing there pulsated to an altogether different beat.

Hasbunallahu wa ni’mal Wakeel – Allah (Alone) is sufficient for us, and He is the Best Disposer of affairs (for us)

Poring through hours of eyewitness coverage of the most recent Israeli assault on the Palestinians, I was awestruck to discover that this weighty phrase(itself part of a Quranic verse), was the most oft-repeated refrain of the indomitable Palestinians during those seemingly unending weeks of devastation. As the live cameras rolled amidst the raining bombs; as mothers discovered that the lives of their innocent offspring were callously snuffed out; as awfully maimed corpses were being dragged from the rubble; and as tonnes of concrete and iron came crashing down on mortal skeletons, the reaction was one – immediate and unmistakeable: Hasbunallah Wa Ni’mal Wakeel.

What I found even more fascinating is that everyone else who was privy to viewing the same footage, independently arrived at the same conclusion.

The cherry on the cake was the affirmation from Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, head of the Gift of the Givers NGO, who led the first medical team from anywhere in the world to enter Gaza after the hostilities, that this single phrase encapsulated the triumphant spirit of the people of Palestine and was heard recurrently during his interactions with ordinary citizens wherein they recounted their ordeals.

In a snapshot, the people of Gaza, faced with some of the worst brutality humanity has ever seen, instinctively always turned to Allah first, expressing their absolute trust in Him, prior to relaying their misfortunes, lamenting their fate, denouncing their oppressors or appealing for assistance.

To quote Dr Sooliman’s eloquent characterization of exemplary traits that qualify one to be a Gazan, “Palestine is the blessed land, but it is very expensive to stay there. And I do not mean that in monetary terms. You have to have the correct ‘passport’, the right personality, the right character, and the right temperament, because no nation on earth can survive in that land, except those whom Allah Himself has chosen to put there.”

Despite all the betrayal and savagery they have endured, Dr. Sooliman continues, “they taught me the most important thing in my life. They said all that has happened does not matter, because there is only one formula – Hasbunallah wa Ni’mal Wakeel..Every Palestinian on every corner and every road said the value of six atom bombs fell on this ‘country’ – but you would swear seeing the place that the like of six atom bombs could neverhave fallen on Gaza. Why? Because (rationally speaking), if six atom bombs had fallen on Gaza, there would beno Gaza. It would be gone. There would be nothing there. How did they survive? How was it possible?Hasbunallah wa Ni’mal Wakeel.”

By choosing such a motto to be their battle cry, the besieged Gazans had in reality selected a most dependable medium – historically tried and tested by the best of Creation. In the infallible Words of the Qur’aan, they had “grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, (one) that never breaks.”

Background

The books of Tafaseer narrate that as the disbelievers of Makkah departed from the battlefield of Uhud, they reached a certain distance when they had realised that they had made a mistake by retreating. Since they had almost won the battle, it dawned upon them that they should have gone for the jugular and finished off the Muslims, once and for all. This thought so gripped them that they began preparing to retrace their steps to confront the Muslims. However, Almighty Allah cast such awe and fear in their hearts that they found it more convenient to march back home to Makkah.

Nonetheless, word reached Rasulullah SAW of the Kuffaar’s intended mobilisation and without delay, he announced to the Sahabah RA that the Kuffaar would have to be pursued in earnest. Amongst those on the receiving end of this exhortation were those whose bodies were riddled with injuries. Some were so severely wounded, they even had to be helped in walking. Furthermore, this group of Sahabah had seen 70 of their own slaughtered in battle just hours before. They had also just recently endured the betrayal of the Munafiqeen and the most painful physical assaults on the Noble being of Rasulullah SAW himself.

An outsider would have imagined them to be reluctant, even terrorised by the prospect of again being immersed in the heat of battle, and that too against a better equipped foe. But the Sahabah RA were cut from a different cloth. Without hesitation, some 200 mujahideen rose and echoed in one voice: Hasbunnallah wa Ni’mal Wakeel.

Allah SWT chronicles the legendary resolve of these men in the Noble Qur’aan with the following words:

The schemings of the Kuffaar of Makkah, a superpower of the time, far from blunting the Sahabah RA’s courage, says Allah SWT, only spiked their level of faith.

The reason for this is simple, writes Hadhrat Moulana Mufti Mohammed Shafi RA, in his Ma’ariful Qur’aan:

“When these blessed people had agreed to obey Allah and His Messenger, they had realized right from day one that the path they have chosen to travel on is full of dangers. There will be difficulties and impediments at every step.Their passage will not be easy. They will be

stopped. Even armed efforts will be made to suppress their revolutionary movement. Thus, when these noble people came across such hardships, the power of their Faith

increased to levels higher than before and, as a result, they worked harder, more selflessly, more than ever.”

By all accounts, this same faith-fuelled, revolutionary zeal is now being replicated in Palestine’s Gaza. Faced by the world’s 6th most powerful military, armed to the teeth by the USA and sporting a dreaded arsenal of drones, apaches, F15′s, F16′s, vertical” warplanes, flechette shells, fuel-air bombs, MK82, MK83, MK84 and dime shells, and many more instruments of death, the response of the Palestinians, alongside their homemade rockets, and active and passive resistance, has been altogether more straightforward. They answer by praying on the ruins of their destroyed mosques, returning to live in whatever shelter they can improvise from the rubble of their homes, reaffirming their commitment to education by heading back to battered schools, and simply continuing with daily life as if nothing catastrophic had ever happened. Of this triumphant attitude, Hasbunallah Wa Ni’mal Wakeel is the essence.

This explains how – to the bewilderment of the world – Gazans could emerge on the afternoon of the ceasefire and fill the streets with the honking of horns and chanting of victory slogans.

Like their role models of old, Allah SWT had blessed them, as promised in the Qur’aan, with their enemies being awestruck with fear and defeat, the sanity and survival of their nation being preserved, and above all, themselves attaining the priceless Pleasure of Allah SWT.

Such are the blessings of this potent phrase: not limited to the Ambiyaa and Sahabah RA, but shared by anyone who recites it with a genuine sense of faith.

As elucidated in Ma’ariful Qur’aan, Ulama have said that one who recites this verse a thousand times with true faith, and prays, will find that his Dua will never be rejected.Reciting this Ayah often is also a proven balm for frustrations, anxieties and depression.

During the course of his Da’wah, when Nabi SAW encountered rejection from some people, he was commanded by Allah to say: Hasbiyaallahu laa ilaaha illa hu, ‘alayhi tawakkaltu wa huwa rabbul ‘arshil adheem, a variation of this powerful phrase.

When his companions got scared of the coming of the Day of Judgement, the Prophet SAW also instructed them to recite: Hasbunallahu Wa Ni’mal Wakeel.

“Reciting this verse is an eloquent affirmation by the believer that Allah SWT Alone is the Bestower and Witholder of Mercy, and He alone is the Remover of Harm and Affliction. Reciting Hasbunallahu Wa Nimal Wakeel provides the healing touch that is very much necessary in one’s life. Just this one single verse is a source of all strength, all comfort!”

“I thought,” recounts Dr Sooliman, ” we went as a team to give food and water (to Gaza). (But) We got food and water! We thought we went to do physical healing, we got spiritual healing. We thought, we were not afraid; we met people that made death afraid. We thought we had Imaan, we saw them live Imaan. We thought we had to comfort them. They said we are sorry for the difficulty you had coming here”.

The passport to achieve such greatness is indeed something valuable. With just one utterance of its words, one can extinguish fires, defeat armies and heal fractured souls.

The Israeli-Palestinian truce inked in Egypt at the end of August, to end the two-month shelling of Gaza by the occupying forces, was suitably hailed by all and sundry. One of the reasons the agreement, or truce, as it’s termed, was seen as critical was that it stopped the bloodshed. Sadly, the region had lost a staggering 2,200 lives before this development.

In a space of two months, Israeli Defence Force massacred 2,100-plus Palestinians – mostly civilian (including 500 children). That is an average of 35 people every day. Indeed, shelters, schools, mosques, hospitals and ambulances did not escape the rockets and bombs fired by the IDF, renowned for its 90% accuracy rate. Palestinians, notably Hamas and Islamic Jihad, returned fire by killing 65 Israeli soldiers and three civilians. The mismatch in numbers and victim profile is not by accident.

While the truce is in place, occupation and the siege continue. A month after the IDF ceased to assault Gaza, one of two Bantustans housing indigenous Palestinians, a politically- and economically-colonized Semitic community, the region’s health sector remains on its knees. Humanitarian aid is being blocked by Israel. Worsening matters is Cairo, now under coup regime leader Abdel Fatah El-Sisi, by blocking Rafah. Pretoria could not sit and watch while Israel and Egypt connived to punish Palestinians. And so, a few phone calls from the Gift of the Givers, an aid NGO led by Dr Imtiaz Suliman, to Pretoria, shamed El-Sisi and his bureaucrats into action.

“Yesterday afternoon, the first consignment of the goods from the American NGOs, donated to us – that was stuck in Cairo from the of 22nd of July, and then, stuck at the Rafah border from last week Sunday ’til now – finally, with all the pressure from our government, entered Gaza yesterday,” a clearly excited Suliman told Sabahul Khair.

“The first goods have gone through, and the Egyptians have further said that the South African consignment is also cleared to go. It’s just arranging the logistics and one more document [now missing] that has to fly out today from South Africa to Cairo. Once that is in, InshaAllah, we hope that within the next week the South African goods will also enter Gaza.”

Items coming from the United States civil sector include, in the main, equipment (sterilizers and theatre bowls, for instance) and consumables. “There are items inside there, different types of medicines, that can serve people for 10,000 patients for three months,” Suliman said. This is critical given the unpredictable Zionist regime, which has been routinely assaulting Palestinian Bantustans even after the 1993 “roadmap” that sought to begin a process of real negotiations that would pave the way for the eventual end of Israeli apartheid.

Turning to the millions worth of donations from home, the Gift of the Givers leader noted that this consignment included two specialised orthopaedic theatre tables and an ambulance. South Africans, in other projects, including Cii’s, have raised millions more to buy Gaza ambulances destroyed by the IDF. “Then we have two theatre tables, that will go other hospitals, there’s an anaesthetic machines, ventilators, capnography, portable X-ray machine – highly-sophisticated machine,” said Suliman, also noting a whole range of theatre sets as well as wheelchairs and implants.

Asked who was, or would be, accompanying the goods into the blockaded Gaza – home to around 1.7m subjugated people – the humanitarian doctor said, owing to the rules, nobody was not allowed to.

“But the goods are safe. That is one thing guaranteed. The goods are never tempered with. The trucks come from the Egyptian side – either through the Egyptian Red Crescent or a private commercial company – to the border,” he said. “They cross the border then trucks come from the Palestinian side. It’s offloaded at the border from one truck, put into the second truck and taken to pre-arranged warehouses. In this case, because it happened so suddenly at short notice yesterday, we move all the stuff to the ministry of health warehouses.”

From here, with the Gift of the Givers representatives working with players like consultants and Gaza-based and external NGOs on the ground, medical aid supplies are dispatched to hospitals across the blockaded region that’s become an open-air prison and killing field. Gaza’s health sector, including ambulances, took pain during the two-month barbaric attacks launched by Tel Aviv’s right-wing regime to disrupt Palestine’s newly-forged unity project.